Container closure



May 18, 1937. G. E. BENNETT CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed April- 27, 1955INVENTOR 650265 E, BENNETT BY J nur H/.5 ATTORNEY Patented May les,1937l y UNITED STATES "PATENT-cruce l v ,2,080,686 f M' l CONTAINERcLosURE George ennett, San Mateo, Calif. Application April 27, 1935,serial No; 18,525

s claims. (Cl. 21a-fic) My invention relates to container closures, andv for the4 container and la sealing disk interposed more particularly toimprovements in demount` able container caps. t

It is among the objects' of i my invention to' 5 provide a capconstructionfembodying means for readily loosening the cap prior to itsremoval. Another object of my invention is vto provide means by.whichthe cap rmay be loosened with-r out damaging the cap n' orimpairing its utility as a subsequent closure forthe container. f

A further object of my invention is to provide ya. closure 4comprisinga/sealing disk and a cap y for securing the disk inplace, in which meansare yprovided for locking the disk into the capupon l5 closure may behandledvas a unit;`

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of my invention. It is to be understood that I do not limit:myself to this disclosure of species ofmy invention,"as I mayradoptvariant embodiments thereof within the scope of the claims.

Figure 1 Vis a' vertical sectional View showing portions of acontainerclosure embodying my invention. This view shows lthe arrangement of theparts just prior to the final screwing down'of d, the cap and before thesealing disk is expanded 30 into interlocking engagement with the cap.

the sealing disk has been expanded, portions of the structure beingbroken away to disclose the construction more clearly; Vand ,y

Figure 3 is aA fragmentary vertical sectional view of the same.

Figure 'i is .arfragmentary vertical sectional view of the closure afterthe spacing element has been removed. I

'Figure 5 isa fragmentary vertical sectional view of a closure embodyinga modied form of structure, and shows thearrangement of parts before thesealing disk is expanded; and

Figure 6 is a plan view of the same vafter-the sealing disk has beenexpanded into interlocking engagement'with the cap, portions of thestructure being broken away to disclose the construction more clearly.-l V Figure l is a plan View of a container closure embodyingv anothermodiiiedv form of structure,y portions of the structure in this Viewalso being broken away to disclose the construction more clearly.

In terms of broad inclusion,` the container closure embodying myinvention comprises a cap its iirst application so that subsequently theVFigure 2 is a plan view of the .closure after-` bet'weenthe cap andcontainer. Means are provided for locking the sealing disk to the cap,and

I a spacing element is valso preferably provided between the cap anddisk and mounted for removal independently of the cap; By locking .thesealing disk to the cap, the disk .will come oil simili-'- loosen'thecap so that from the container.

Iny greater detail, and referring; particularly to it may easily beremoved Figures 1 and 2, a form of closure embodyingv my inventioncomprises a cup-shaped cap 2 preferably of metal and preferablythreadably mountf,v

ed on a container. 3. An aperture 4 isA formed in the top of the cap 2,providing anopening bounded by an annular. ange 6. l A sealing disk lvor suitable material, such as` metal, is interposed between the cap 2and container A3.

Means are provided for loosening the` cap ,prior to its removal. As bestshown in Figure 2,`\this means comprises a piece of wire shaped toprovide an annular ring portion 8 overlying the sealing disk l underthe-cap ange 6. A series of loops 9 are preferably formed in this ringtospacevthe latter fromy the cap. lOne, `end of the wire extends outfrom under the edge of the capilange 6; and is formedto provide a fingerhold I l, lying inthe plane of the spacing ring 8,so that this fingerhold normally lies slightly above the sealing disk 1, in which positionitis ,readily grasped. When it is desired to remove the spacing elementit is only necessary to lift up the iinger hold and pull the wire outfrom under the flange 6. This loosens the cap so that it may easily beremoved.

When a container is screwed down tightly to effect the desired bearingpressure'against the sealing disk.' The iirm-f ness with which thiscapisY applied makes it difficult if not impossible to unscrew the capby h'and,`

the cap so thatit is easily lremoved vvby hand.

first packed vthe cap is After the first opening the spacing element'maybe discarded since the remaining ele-ments of the structure, namely,the, cap and sealing disk, provide a vcomplete closure for reclosirngthe container. Means are also preferably provided for lock-A ing thesealing disk ,1 to the cap 2 so that they two parts will come off asaunit when the cap is u'nscrewed.l In the type of cap shown, the sealingdisk 1 i de separately from the cap, and unless means are provided forlocking the disk to the cap the disk has to be removed after the cap istaken voi.- To remove such a disk it be-v comes necessary to apply aprying tool', such as a knife, under the edge of the disk.v Thisinvolves -additional time and trouble and often results in bending orotherwise ruining the disk, so that it is useless, or less useful, forreclosing the container. c Y l VIn my improved construction, ltheperipheral' portion of the sealing disk'l i's formed to provide anupstanding ridge or bead I2. This raised bead overlies the rim of thecontainer 3 and provides a groove in which the gasket i3 of rubberprovision vof these slots permits .the ridged por- Vso tion I2 to nettenout with less` applied pressure.

and is especially desirable it a heavier sealing disk is employed. f f

The locking of the sealingdiskto the -cap is facilitated by theprovision of an annular recess "il in the cap and disposedcircumferentially of the disk. By this comtructiorithe edges of Atheexpansion'` ring I2 will be forced out into the recess I5, "so that apositive interlocking engagement is effected Vbetween ythe disk rand capto provideva unitary structure/for handling. When the cap issubsequently removed the sealing disk will be taken oil vwith it and.permanently held.

vwithin the cap as 'a functionally integral unit. 'I'he sealing disk andcap then provides a com-v plete closure, as shown in Figure 4, for thecon-l venient reclosing of the container.-

Figures 5 and 6 show'a modined form of cap,

in which the peripheralv portions of the sealing disk It are providedwith concentric corruga.v

tions I1. The outside diameter of the disk is such that it may beinserted in the cap by the use of some slight pressure. The small degreeof" expansion of the disk due to the flattening of the i corrugationwhich occurs when the cap is screwed down hard, is suilicient tointerlock the peripheralA edge of the disk inthe cap recess I5. In thisconstruction the rubber or other comformable material for the gasket isdisposed in the concentric grooves provided by the corrugations. By theconcentric arrangement of the gasket holding. grooves, each outer ringof the gasket tends to supplement the seal provided by an inner ring.

`Such an arrangement improves the seal and also reduces the amount ofgasket material re, quired.

A modied formv of spacing element is also shown. `In this case, the ringportion I9 1s bentin zig-zag formation to give width to the ring. Theflat loops thus provided will overlie the corrugations of the expansionring without dropping into the groove between the corrugations,

Y"and also function toA hold the spacing element away from the' cap 2.

` \\flnger holdl 2| is also formed at one end ofthe wire; and. this holdis normally slightly above thesealing disk i3 and under the cap aperture4.

Another variant form of my closure construction is shown in Figure 7.In'this case the spacing element comprises a piece of relatively stiffwirebent in the form of a ring, adapted to overlie the peripheralportions of the. sealing disk 22 under the annular ilange 23. of the cap24. The

wire is formed with a series or offset portions 2t connected by smoothlycurved portions 21. At

the inner er". 23 of one of the curved portions the wire extends outVfrom under ythe edge oi the cap flange 23, so that any suitablepointsuch as a fork tine, may be engaged between the wire and theedgeoi'thecap flange. 'n

By forcing the tool around the inner edge of the flange the stiir wirering is wedged out from .under the flange. The drawing out'of thespacing ring in`this manner is facilitated by the smoothly curvedportions 21 or the ring, as `will bereadily understood. The otset 2lgives width to the ringandfunctions to space the ring awayv from thecap. theitotal closingpres sure, which is considerable. is distributedover` the whole length of the spacing element; the unit pressure on ashort length ct wire is that it 'disengages thev readily.

of come it :sander-stood tnatanycoftne of spacing elements shown mayl.be used Leither with or without the sealing disk locking feature.l

Agreat advantage of my removable spacing elements is` that they normallylie within the limits defined/,by the cap. No part ofthe spacing elementextends outside the cap to detract from its compactness or appearance.

Referring particularly to "the interlocking-,of

upon tc expand the disk into interlocking lengagement with the cap; orthis expansion maybe lthe two parts of the closure. it is understoodthat.` the pressure of applyingthe cap lmayfbe relied effected by otherpressure means prior to the api plication of the cap to'a container. Inthis case,

- since unlimited pressure for alsemblingby machine is` available, ythediskv may be larger in diameter than it would be, possible tov push intothe cap by hand membly.

chine assembled the perlpheralfcormgations permit a resilientcontraction of diameter of ,the

disk as it is forced past the throat or. narrow portion oi' the cap'justbelow'the annular recess il. j w

Iclaim: y 1. A container closure comprising av captar the'container, asealing disk interposed between the cap and container, and meansexpandible as the cap is applied thereover for permanently locking thesealing disk to the cap. i

v 2. A container closure comprising a cap for the container, a sealingdisk interposed'vbetweenthe cap and container, and means integrallyformed with the disk and expandible under the pressure of the cap forlocking the sealing dick-to thecap when the latter is applied to thecontainer'.`

3. Acontainer closure'comprising a cap for the container, and a sealingdisk interposed between the cap and container and having al notched and.grooved peripheral portion providing an expansion ring expandible bypressure tor permanently locking the disk to the cap.y v v 4. Acontainer closure comprising a cap for the container, and asealing'interposed between the cap and container and having acorrugatedperipheral portion providing aring 'ex- Ya A.

`change in diameter, and a cap for applying the disk having an annularrecess in which the disk is locked by expansion of the disk as the capis applied thereover.

'7. A container closure comprising a cap for the container, and a pieceof wire interposed between the cap and container to provide a spacingelement and mounted for removal independently of said cap, said wirehaving loops therein for holding it away from sides of thecap.

8. A container closure comprising a cap for the container, a sealingdisk having an expandible rim formed integrally with the disk forlocking the disk within the cap, and a spacing wire interposed betweenthe cap and the expandible rim and adapted for removal through the captop,

said wire having loops therein for holding the bodyy of the wire awayfrom the sides of the cap and for distributing pressure over a majorarea of the rim. i

GEORGE E. BENNE'I'I'.

